A variety of snack foods such as chips and the like are commercially sold in tubular composite containers. The containers typically are formed of paperboard spirally formed into a tube, and usually have an inner liner which acts as a barrier to gases and/or moisture, and an exterior label on which indicia and/or graphics are printed. The top opening of the container typically has a removable and recloseable closure which can be removed to access product and then reclosed to keep any unconsumed product fresh.
One such container which is commonly used for packaging chips produced in a stackable form is relatively small in diameter such that a single stack of chips in the container is closely surrounded by the interior surface of the container in order to keep the stack of chips from toppling over. Because of the small opening, many consumers find it difficult or impossible to reach an entire hand into the container, but instead must access product by inserting only their fingers into the container. A further hindrance to the removal of product, however, is that the container typically is relatively tall in relation to its diameter. Consequently, most consumers' fingers are not long enough to reach product located near the bottom of the container. A frequent consumer solution to this problem is to invert the container and dump product out the open end. However, this can be messy when there are small fragments of broken chips or the like in the container.
Making the container larger in diameter is an unsatisfactory solution to the problem, because the chips must be maintained in stacked orientation to minimize breakage and to make most efficient use of the space. Furthermore, making the container shorter is an unsatisfactory solution in those cases where consumers prefer a relatively larger-capacity container.